Between Two Rival Friends
by IniRniDefunct
Summary: During the battle between Sasuke and Naruto at the Valley of the End, Sasuke is convinced to come back to Konoha Village. What are the repercusssions of his decision after it? On Hiatus indefinitely.
1. Come Back, Sasuke!

**Come Back, Sasuke! **

**Disclaimer: **This belongs to the series, Naruto. None of these parts are mine and are only written for entertainment purposes.

* * *

"Sasuke! Please wake up!" yelled Naruto, shaking Sasuke with his right hand clutching his blue collar. 

"I have already told you, dumbass. I have woke up," said Sasuke, glaring at Naruto with his sharingan eyes. "And you are going to die."

"Sasuke, this isn't your path, damnit!" said Naruto, clutching Sasuke's collars in his fists. "You're my friend, and you said that I am… your friend. R-right?"

"That's why I'm going to kill you. So I can get more power. If my best friend dies, then I will get more power. I am an Avenger after all, Naruto," said Sasuke, punching him in the stomach.

Naruto spat blood as he let go, heaving at the pain in his stomach, "Sasuke…"

"Shut up," he snapped, picking Naruto up by the neck. "Here lies your death. After all, this is the Valley of the End."

Naruto looked at Sasuke, his eyebrows closed, his mouth opening and closing, trying to phrase what he wanted to say. "Sa-Sasuke, what will you do after you have your revenge?'

"I don't know," replied Sasuke. "Probably come back to Konoha and continue my path down the Chuunin path and eventually work at the Leaf's Police force. I'm sure my father would have wanted me to work there," he paused, "after all, the Leaf's Police Force was started by a member of my ancestor."

"Then forget your revenge and come back to Konoha! Forget your brother, and if he ever comes back to Konoha, then you can get your revenge then!" said Naruto. "If your father wanted you to work at the Police Force, then do that!"

"Naruto," he gritted his teeth, closing his eyes, giving him a small grin, "Kukuku…" he chuckled evilly, "You've gotten stronger, and what have I been doing? Kukuku… nothing!"

Naruto stared at Sasuke, fearing Sasuke. His laughter seemed eerily similar to Orochimaru's. He shook his head, his chest heaving with pain, struggling to hold his tears back. He closed his eyes, raising his hand to Sasuke's cheeks, causing to take him by surprise and stopped the evil sounding laughter as Naruto spoke.

"Brother… If you want to blame my powers on something…" he said, "then blame it on Nine-tails demon that lies within me. Blame it on Konoha Village for it."

"Nine-tails…? What the hell are you talking about?" asked Sasuke and sighed. "Whatever, it's too late, kukuku," said Sasuke, "Whether you have a demon or not in you, it's all the same to me."

Naruto growled, scratching Sasuke's face with his sharper nails, causing Sasuke to drop him. Naruto stared up at him, his fangs bared and his voiced grew deeper with anger.

"Don't you know how many years I have suffered by the village?" yelled Naruto, "Don't you know how lonely I was? I hated, and I still hate the feeling of loneliness, I know you do too," he said, closing his eyes.

"Loneliness was _killing _me! _Please_ don't go down the path of revenge! Break free from that darkness, Sasuke!" screamed Naruto, blinking his eyes rapidly to hold the tears back. "Orochimaru will have you as a container!"

Sasuke blinked, taking a step back, "Container?"

"Yes, container," spat Naruto, clutching the dirt with his claws.

Sasuke looked away, furrowing his eyebrows in thought. "My… brother said something about a container, the night he killed my clan..." he whispered, "Naruto, tell me exactly what is a container."

"I don't know the exact details, Sasuke, but Orochimaru wants your body so he can continue his immortality conquest" he said, "or something like that so he could gain all of the jutsu in the world and destroy the world as we know it! That's why he gave you the cursed seal, not just to give you power, but his means of taking your body."

Sasuke spoke nothing, staring at Naruto; encouraged, Naruto kept talking.

"Sasuke, please don't let Orochimaru get his way. Or Konoha will be…" Naruto trailed off, not wanting to imagine the worse.

"Or Konoha will be _what_ Naruto?" asked Sasuke, crossing his arms.

"Or Konoha will be destroyed, obliterated by Orochimaru," replied Naruto. "The Leaf's Police force that your ancestor started, will be gone, our schools, the Hokages along the cliffs, it will all be eradicated by him. Do you want that, Sasuke?"

"Nngh…" Sasuke made a voice with his voice.

"Do you!" yelled Naruto, tightening his fists in front of him.

Sasuke stared at Naruto, looking aghast. "The Leaf's Police force…?"

"Will be gone," finished Naruto. "Please Sasuke."

Sasuke stared at the First and Second Hokages on both sides of the waterfall and sighed. "What will I do with the cursed seal, then? I _need_ power. I _need_ to kill you."

"You will get power, the way Kakashi, the Hokages, and everyone else in the village got theirs. You've got to work hard, and a lot of patience too, Sasuke. We're only thirteen years old, we have time! Heck, if you want, we can fight each other every day, getting stronger, as a part of our training," he said, grinning.

Naruto's grin faltered and his face grew serious.

"But killing me is not one of the ways to gain power," said Naruto, clutching his fists at his sides.

"What do you know about gaining power, Naruto?" growled Sasuke.

"You said that your dreams are only in the past, not the future. Have you ever tried thinking about, dreaming about working at the Leaf's Police force? Don't tell me that you don't care about any of us!" screamed Naruto.

Sasuke stared at Naruto and looked away from him.

"I don't like you being the way you are now, Sasuke! It's breaking Sakura… it's breaking me. It's breaking _everyone_ in Konoha. I've only known loneliness all my life until I became a Genin, Sasuke," he said.

Naruto stared at Sasuke, giving him a small smile.

"I had wondered what it was like to have a brother…" said Naruto, pointing a finger at Sasuke. "You're like a brother to me than anyone else. Please don't leave the Leaf's Village."

Sasuke hmphed, his gaze continued to study the waterfall and began chuckling.

"I shouldn't have loitered around to listen to you… it makes me to almost want to come back home," said Sasuke, looking away from the waterfall and sighed.

Naruto stared at Sasuke in anticipation, ready to attack if needed. Sasuke began to laugh in his normal way and grinned at Naruto.

"Let's go home," he paused, giving a bigger smile, "Naruto friend."

Naruto blinked at the use of his name and grinned, "Yeah!" he whooped, punching the air.

Sasuke made a sound, moving away from Naruto, staring past him.

Confused, Naruto studied Sasuke.

"Hm? What Sasuke?" asked Naruto, turning around. "Kakashi-sensei!"

"…Hello boys…" said Kakashi, looking at the pair. "I see you two have been fighting."

"Heh, heh, heh," chuckled Naruto nervously, scratching the back of his head. "We were just training."

"I'm sure you two were," he said, studying the two boys and shook his head, "let's go back to the Village," said Kakashi.

"What? That's all you're going to say?" asked Pakkun, appearing from behind Kakashi, looking up at him, pawing his left leg.

"For now, yes Pakkun… though, there will be a long lecture for the both of them. Lives were sacrificed to get Sasuke back, after all," said Kakashi, his voice cool.

Sasuke's stared at Kakashi, making a sound with his throat.

"I don't know if any of our comrades are alive or not, we need to go back now," said Kakashi, jumping up into the tree branches, followed by Pakkun.

The other two stared at each other, worried about the other comrades that had come with Naruto to get Sasuke back. Nodding, the two followed Kakashi close behind.

"Who came with you, Naruto? I forgot who they were when you said their names…" asked Sasuke, following close behind Naruto.

"Chouji… Neji… Kiba… Shikamaru. And at one point, Fuzzy Eyebrows showed up," replied Naruto quietly.

"Lee?" asked Sasuke, slowing down his pace, realizing what the shinobis of Konoha had done for him.

'_What have I become?'_ he wondered.

Sighing, he sped up to catch up to Naruto and the others.

Half way through the forest, medics appeared alongside Kakashi and the boys.

"Need any assistance?" asked one of them.

"No, I'm fine," replied Naruto, Sasuke nodding in agreement.

"That's good, we're just getting everyone back to the hospital. Both Neji and Chouji are in critical condition, we're not sure if they are going to make it. The others will need assistance, but they will be fine."

Naruto blanched at the news, remembering the last time he saw Chouji and Neji. His bottom lip quivered at the thought of losing his comrades. Distracted by the dark thoughts, Naruto missed a step on a branch and fell to the ground fifty feet below.

"Naruto!" yelled Sasuke, jumping after him.


	2. Good Job on a Mission Well Done!

**Good Job on a Mission Well Done!**

**Disclaimer: **This belongs to the series, Naruto. None of these parts are mine and are only written for entertainment purposes.

"Naruto!" yelled Sasuke, jumping after him.

Naruto flipped and landed on the ground, cracking a bone within his body. "Yaargh!" yelled Naruto, clutching his left leg.

Sasuke, Kakashi, Pakkun and the medics appeared around Naruto to check on their comrade. The concerned medical persons examined him and after a time, one turned to Kakashi.

"Broken leg," he announced, "we'll have to carry him back to the hospital."

Naruto groaned, "I have to stay in a hospital?"

"Yes," he replied and they put him on a stretcher and carried Naruto back to Konoha, followed by the other three.

Naruto sat on his bed, arms crossed, pouting at the thought of not being able to train. He stared at his broken leg and sighed. _'Six whole weeks, how am I going to train if I have to sit around for that long!'_ thought Naruto. He heard someone opening and closing of the door and looked up.

"Sakura!" exclaimed Naruto, giving her thumbs up, grinning.

"Naruto…" she said, smiling and took three arching long steps to him and hugged Naruto. "Thank you... thank you so much for bringing Sasuke back."

She sniffled and wiped her tears before they fell.

"I did say that it was a promise of my life, Sakura," said Naruto, scratching the back of his neck.

"And if I remember right, it was your wish too," he said.

Her eyebrows arched up together, her mouth smiling at Naruto. "Yeah, it was," she said, struggling not to let sheer happiness come through her voice.

She stared at him and sighed, looking at his leg covered in cast.

"I'm sorry, I hadn't realized just how much you really liked me until you left for the mission, Naruto," she said, pulling a strand of her hair behind her ear.

"Its fine," said Naruto, "I knew you liked Sasuke enough, that you would even help him with his revenge. So forget about me."

"Naruto," she said, pausing.

"Thank you."

She took out some apples out of her bag and gave it to Naruto, "I thought you might be hungry."

"Thanks!" said Naruto, accepting one and began to eat it.

She smiled, putting the rest of the apples on the table near him. Sakura stood up, putting a hand on her hips.

"Well, I better go now, Naruto. I'll see you around," she said, leaving the room.

Naruto slowed down on eating his apple, looking at Sakura as she left through the door, and frowned.

'_I wonder if Tsunade can heal my leg?' _ wondered Naruto, patting his leg and let out a loud groan. "Ah, damnit!"

"Cursing so early in the morning, I see," said a woman, entering the room.

"Granny Tsunade!" said Naruto, sitting straight as he forgot the pain he caused himself.

"You have quite a spirit, Naruto," she said, studying his cast. "Hmm, this is a simple remedy, do you want me to heal it?"

"Yes please!" said Naruto, grinning.

"Too bad," she said, turning around and left the room, leaving Naruto with his frozen smile.

"What!" yelled Naruto.

"Just kidding," her head appeared at the door, chuckling and reentered the room.

"That was not funny!" he complained, crossing his arms.

She stared at him, biting her bottom lip in thought.

"Naruto, has Kakashi spoke to you about the state between you and Sasuke?"

Naruto's face lost all signs of cheerfulness and shook his head no.

"No, Tsunade, he hasn't given me the lecture he promised, yet. I understand that the… high risks that our rivalry involve. Don't worry, we've already discussed the issue ourselves. It was, after all, the reason why he came back to the village. I can't help it, though, that this feeling that he was meant to leave the village. Have I changed the fates of the world?"

Tsunade raised an eyebrow, peering closer to his face, poking his head with her finger.

"This isn't like you, Naruto, when have you gotten so wise?"

"Wise? Me? Ha, ha, that's funny, Granny," he said, scratching the nape of his neck. "In all seriousness, Tsunade, I have at least kept the promise of my life to Sakura… I wouldn't know what to do with myself if I couldn't keep my promise."

She smiled at him, and with a touch of her hand on the broken leg, the bone healed as the cast fell apart. Once finished, she cleared her throat as she checked to make sure the leg is healed.

"I have news, Naruto, I understand that the personnel of the medic have told you that Chouji and Neji were in critical stage," she said, pausing.

"Don't tell me that they're…" said Naruto, gripping his hands on the blanket.

"They're on their way to recovery," she said, leaving the room. "Take it easy, Naruto," she smiled.

She closed the door behind her, leaving Naruto dumbfounded. _'Everyone on our team… survived!' _

Naruto's eyeybrows arched up, his mouth curving into pure happiness, clutching his blanket to control himself to not cry from joy.

"Kid, it's alright to cry if you're happy," someone said at the window.

Naruto looked up, spilling tears from both eyes, spotting his instructor, Jiraiya, on top of the Gamabunta, the Toad Master. He grinned at Naruto with thumbs up.

"Good job on a mission well done, Naruto," he said, "I thought that Sasuke would have left the village forever. Seems like I have underestimated you, again," he said, grinning. "I saw Tsunade healed your leg," he paused, "you wanna go and eat a bowl of ramen? My treat!"

Naruto sniffled, wiping his tears with the blanket.

"Yes Pervert Hermit," he replied, "I would like a bowl of ramen noodles!" his voice choking up on the pain of delight.

"Yeah… after you pull yourself together," he said, a sweat drop falling down the back of his head.

The door opened again, revealing Shikamaru; he paused, surveying the scene, a sweat drop forming alongside his face, glancing at Naruto and Jiraiya.

"Er, did I come in at a bad time?" he asked.

"It's fine," said Naruto, drying his face. "Wwhat do you want Shikamaru?"

Shikamaru sighed, looking away from Naruto, sighing. _'This is so difficult to say it to Naruto…'_

"Good job on a mission well done," he said, looking at Naruto, "We all survived and you brought Sasuke back. Without you, I don't think there would be any possibility of completing the mission." Shikamaru sniffed inaudibly, "That is all. Anything you want to say?"

"Yeah, I do," said Naruto, getting out of bed and walked several feet in front of him. Shikamaru backed away from him, wondering what he wanted.

"Thanks for leading us, Shikamaru, without _you_, we would have all died."

Shikamaru stared at him in silence and smiled.

"Heh, heh," he said, scratching his hair, "thanks Naruto… well, I'll be sure to do better next time so none of the lives are compromised."

"I don't think that will be possible," said Naruto, stepping back from him and walked towards Jiraiya. "There is a war going on, or at least, there will be one; and there will always be a possibility of losing lives, no matter how easy a mission can be. Except for a D-rank, of course," he chuckled nervously.

Shikamaru and Jiraiya glanced at each other then studied Naruto.

"Not you two, too," groaned Naruto, "I did not become any wiser. I just…"

"Just what, Naruto?" asked Jiraiya.

"Fine, I'll let you guys think I've gotten wiser," he said, then he pointed to himself with his thumb, "but I'm still an idiot that you all know!"

Shikamaru smiled hesitantly, "Okay… and _you_ consider that a good thing, Naruto?" he asked.

"Of course," replied Naruto, closing his eyes, giving him a big grin. "Hee, heh, heh."

"Right, I better go find Kiba and see how he is doing," Shikamaru said. "I'm glad to see that you didn't suffer much," he paused, turning around and faced the door.

"Bye Naruto."

"Bye Shikamaru," said Naruto.

After a moment of silence passed after Shikamaru left and closed the door, Jiraiya spoke up.

"Well, how about that bowl of ramen noodles?"

"Oh yeah!" exclaimed Naruto, jumping out the window and joined him.

"…In your hospital clothes?"

"What?" he asked, pouting, "Food don't need any fashion sense, Pervert Hermit!"

Jiraiya sighed and leapt off the Toad Master, Naruto followed and the toad disappeared. The two began walking to Naruto's favorite restaurant.


	3. It’s Time to Lend a Helping Hand!

**It's Time to Lend a Helping Hand!**

**Disclaimer: **This belongs to the series, Naruto. None of these parts are mine and are only written for entertainment purposes.

Away from Naruto who is busy walking along the streets of Konoha to Ichiraku for ramen. On the other side of the village sat Sasuke on a bench with his right foot on the bench as an armrest for his right arm, staring off in space.

'_What should I do, now that I'm back here in this Hidden Leaf Village? Train?'_ wondered Sasuke, stealing a leaf that was floating by and studied the veins within the leaf.

'_Hidden Leaf…'_ thought Sasuke, _'Are they really that precious to protect? What about that bastard?'_

'_As expected of my child,'_ _his father said, 'But don't go down the same path as your brother.'_

Sasuke closed his eyes, crushing the leaf.

'_If he didn't want me to follow that bastard, then I guess my father would have wanted me to go down the path of the Uchiha Police Force,'_ reasoned Sasuke, letting the leaf go, undamaged. _'But before I could do that, I better take care of my other business first. I'll never get any peace when knowing he'll be back anytime soon to bug me. Or Naruto.'_

His thoughts paused, opening his eyes and watched the leaves sway in the wind. Letting out a sigh, he closed his eyes again.

'_Can I really get help from my team?' _Sasuke asked himself,_ 'Sakura… She did say that she would do anything for me. I could use that to my advantage. I guess that goes for Naruto too. I'm not doing my brother's way anymore. I'm not going to run, or get the same eyes as him. I'm going to face him as I am!'_

'_If you wish to kill me, hate me, detest me, and survive in an unsightly way. Run, run and cling to life. And one day, when you have the same eyes as me, come before me,' Itachi said, smirking at his brother. After he spoke the words, Sasuke was frozen in his place, eyes wide at his brother who, then, seemed like a complete stranger._

Sasuke clenched his fists, his heart beating faster when he remembered the memory. He sighed, letting himself relax.

'_Yeah, I will need to get help from Sakura and Naruto if I won't be able to get Mangekyou eyes…'_

Deep in thought, Sasuke barely noticed his surroundings until the last possible second. The presence he felt, stopped in front of him, waiting. He looked up and saw her looking down on the ground, her fingers fidgeting together.

"Hey Sasuke," she murmured, "can I sit down?"

Sasuke shrugged, looking away from her and watched another leaf fall from the tree and floated into the river.

"How are you doing, Sasuke?" she asked.

"Eh," he muttered, shrugging his shoulders again.

The two watched the river float by; some logs went by faster than others. Leaves spiraled around a point as the river drifted them further away. Sakura sighed and stared at Sasuke.

"What?" asked Sasuke, his eyes staring at her, his face facing the river.

"Oh nothing, I'm just really happy that you're back."

"Hn," was all Sasuke said, watching the river again.

"Do… Do you still want to do anything for me?" he asked.

Her eyes widened, knowing what she was referring to; it seemed like weeks since she saw Sasuke leave the village, when it had been only five nights ago. She stared at her fingers, wondering what to say and then nodded, smiling to herself.

"Of course, I would do anything for you, Sasuke," she said.

Sasuke stood up and faced her, shuffling his feet nervously and let out a deep sigh.

"I'm hoping…" he started, swallowing a gulp as he stared off in a distance, "that you w-would help me with avenging my clan," he said, a light pink blush tinged his cheeks.

She stared at him with wide eyes for a moment and nodded, smiling, "Of course, I will help you Sasuke!"

Sasuke stared at Sakura for few moments and gave a small smile.

"Good," he said curtly, walking off. "Let's go find Naruto. Wonder where that idiot is now?"

"Hospital…" she replied, wondering why Sasuke wanted to find Naruto now.

Without word, he left for the hospital and stopped.

"Aren't you coming?" he asked without turning back.

She blinked, speechless that he wanted her to come along. Another moment, her mouth turned into a big grin, she was being invited to come along with him!

'_Naruto better help me… He's valuable after all, even if I did originally want to avenge on my own. Then again, I did say that I won't be doing Itachi's way again,' _thought Sasuke, walking alongside Sakura who stayed quiet, which Sasuke felt thankful for.

'_Maybe, by using her intellect, I'll be able to find some way to beat that bastard. I'm not going to wait years, just to avenge my own clan.'_

He heard Sakura's voice clearing her throat and looked up, spotting the Sand shinobis were coming their way. Sasuke stared at Gaara who stared back. Sasuke looked away from the sand villagers, wishing not to deal with them right now as the walked past each other.

'_As for Naruto, well, I'll have to be frank, he _is_ powerful. And whatever that jutsu was, it was stronger than my Chidori. That is completely insane. Is it even possible for a technique to be more powerful than Chidori?' _he paused his thoughts and sighed as he vaguely saw Sakura entering a building.

Sasuke stood by the doors and continued to mull his thoughts over. _'Well, of course, there will always be a stronger technique over some other jutsu. No wonder why Orochimaru wants to know all jutsu there is in the world.'_

He felt a poke in his arm and stared at Sakura.

"Sorry, I tried calling your name several times, Sasuke," she said, blushing. "But we're here, I asked the front office and they said that Naruto escaped the hospital," she said, sighing. "I don't know where to find him now."

"Well, let's try that place he always eat at," Sasuke suggested, walking away from the building.

"Of course! The Ichiraku!" she exclaimed, clapping her hands together as though it was so obvious.

The pair made their way to the restaurant as Sasuke surveyed the area. The village almost completed on their fixing up the place and looking as though a battle never occured here. The two arrived at the place and heard two familiar voices. Sakura went behind the curtains and Sasuke followed behind.

"Hey Naruto," said Sakura, greeting Naruto.

"Hey Sakura! Sasuke!" greeted Naruto, waving at them with his chopsticks.

"The hospital staff isn't very happy that you left," Sakura stated, crossing her arms.

"It wasn't my fault!" protested Naruto, pointing to Jiraiya, "he invited me here!"

"Hey, hey, don't put all the blame on me! You could have refused," said Jiraiya defensively as he finished his bowl of ramen.

"Yeah, whatever Pervert Hermit," said Naruto, facing his friends. "What are you two doing here? Going to eat some chow?"

"No, I want to talk to you," said Sasuke, staring outside between the two curtains.

"What's that?" asked Naruto, finishing his bowl of ramen.

"In private," said Sasuke, staring at Jiraiya.

"Aw, can't I be part of your conversation?" he pouted and raised his hand when Sasuke opened his mouth. "I'm kidding, I'll go now. I have some business to take care of, anyway."

Jiraiya left the cooker his pay for his and Naruto's meal and left with a salute. Naruto thanked him and got off the chair, following Sasuke and Sakura out of the room. The three walked in tension filled silence, wondering why Sasuke wanted to talk to Naruto. Ten minutes of complete silence, he stopped walking in front of a large tree and jumped up and landed on a large thick branch. The two followed and saw Sasuke sitting down, they followed suit.

"What is it you want to say to me that couldn't be said in the village?" asked Naruto impatiently.

Sasuke kept his glance off Naruto and Sakura as he spoke, stuttering his words.

"Erm, w-well, I know in our last fight together…"

"Last fight? What do you mean? You two had another fight?" asked Sakura, leaning forward.

"Shut up," said Sasuke, "Yes, there was another fight. Without anyone interfering this time."

Sakura stared at the boys with a new horror and shook her head back into reality.

"I-I see, sorry for interrupting," she said, looking down.

"Anyway, Naruto, I'll get to the point, you're strong, and I'm going to need someone to help me gain my revenge against that bastard. Sakura's already offered her help. Will you?" asked Sasuke, grabbing a leaf.

"Though, in the meantime, I will train and stay in Konoha, the Hidden Leaf Village, until the time comes… to avenge," Sasuke said.

Naruto blinked in surprise, and then lowered one eyebrow in question. Naruto turned from Sasuke, overlooking the village and shifted his face at Sasuke, grinning with thumbs up.

"I will help you, Sasuke!"

Sasuke stared at him, blinked, blushed and looked away from Naruto.

"…Thanks," he said.

Without looking back, Sasuke said, "Come meet me at the training area in about half hour," with that, he jumped off the branch, leaving the two behind. Sakura held her hands to her mouth, staring after Sasuke, her eyes brimming with tears. When Naruto noticed Sakura, he became alarmed, looking around for something to comfort Sakura.

"I'm going to go," Sakura said finally.

Naruto deflated, scratching the back of his head.

"Are you going to be okay, Sakura?"

She nodded and smiled at Naruto.

"Bye," she said, jumping off the opposite side Sasuke jumped off.

Naruto stayed where he was, and moved to where Sasuke sat previously, sighing, thinking about what Sasuke had asked of him.

'_Has he… begun to trust us?'_ thought Naruto, crossing his arms. _'At least I can meet up with Sasuke and train with him and Sakura. This is gonna be great!'_ he grinned to himself, clenching a fist.

He stood up, anxious to get the training started, hopping from branch to branch towards the training area adjacent from where he was. In order to wait for half an hour, he ran around the village's perimeters to increase his running speed.

**nmnmnmnmnmnmnm**

Note: If you want to keep up with the information on this story as well as any other Naruto fics I might be doing, follow my Livejournal link listed in the bio. Or just search prongsrini as username. Thanks and concrits are highly preferred.


	4. Let’s Train, Sasuke!

**Let's Train, Sasuke!**

**Disclaimer: **This belongs to the series, Naruto. None of these parts are mine and are only written for entertainment purposes.

Appearing at the training area after a long exercise run around the village, Naruto spotted Sasuke throwing kunais at five different targets in front of him, nailing each dead on. He felt a presence showing up to his left and found Sakura there, watching Sasuke with a neutral face. Sasuke stopped throwing weapons and stood there, not moving and began speaking.

"Well, are you going to watch me all day and do nothing or what?" asked Sasuke, putting his left hand on his hip and faced the two with a smirk.

"Bring it on," shouted Naruto, grinning.

Sakura frowned, staring at the boys, "B-but, isn't this just going to be a repeat? You shouldn't fight each other!"

"No, Sakura," assured Naruto, "We won't be sparing for awhile. Just training."

Sasuke collected his kuanais off the targets and put them in his bag pouch then began stretching. Naruto picked several kunais out and began throw them at the targets, using other kunais to change the path to nail the targets. He had seen how Sasuke used that technique in their last fight and he was determined to master it.

None of the kunais hit their target, some were way off tangent while others never sailed past the targets themselves. Naruto sighed and turned to Sasuke and was met with a smirking face.

"Trying to master that technique?"

"Yeah," replied Naruto, crossing his arms, "got a problem with that?"

"Actually no," he replied and chuckled.

Naruto humphed, turning away from him and continued to practice throwing kunais and trying to hit bull's eye with his other set of kunais.

Sakura practiced her genjutsu, trying to improve herself, knowing that she was weaker than her two teammates. Sighing and faced the boys with furrowed eyebrows. Sasuke stopped throwing shurikens and looked at Sakura.

"What is it?" he asked.

Naruto stopped practicing when he heard Sasuke and looked at Sakura.

"Nothing," she replied, "let's just train some more," Sakura said, shaking her head and refocused on her training with Genjutsu.

The other two glanced at each other and Naruto shrugged. He returned to practicing throwing shurikens and kunais up and changed the paths with his other kunais. None of the targeted kunais or shuriken succeeded. Growling under his breath, he turned to Sasuke to complain and stopped when he saw something was wrong. The very moods within Sasuke seemed to be emitting from his body. Alarmed, Naruto took a step back when he saw his eyes were upon him.

"W-what is it, Sa-Sasuke?"

Sakura stopped practicing and moved away from Sasuke when she saw the mood he was in. She looked at Naruto as something squeezed within her chest.

'_No! I don't want to see another fight between them! I'm going to stop them!' _Inner Sakura thought, wanting to voice the words, but Sakura wouldn't allow her to.

"You… that really brings back a lot of memories," he said quietly. "Now I want to fight you again. Spar if you will."

"Spar?" asked Naruto, looking at Sakura who shut her eyes tightly, cowering.

'_No! No, please don't!'_ she thought, clenching her fists.

"Yeah," he replied, crouching into his fighting stance.

"Whoa," a new voice appeared, "Whoa, whoa. Hold it right there. This is where I will draw the line and I have to interfere."

The three genins looked up and saw Jiraiya standing on top of a tree stump, arms crossed with a blank face. Sakura perked up at the sight of him, smiling in relief.

"Pervert Hermit," Naruto whined, "What are you saying?"

"What I'm saying is that I have to supervise you and Sasuke whenever you 'spar,' so it doesn't get out of hand. Like the time on the roof," he replied, jumping down. "I'm sure it's no problem, right genins?"

"Yeah, Jiraiya-sama!" replied Sakura happily.

"Sure, Pervert Hermit," said Naruto, scratching the back of his head in thought.

Sasuke nodded to Jiraiya and resumed his stance. Naruto complied and began attacking Sasuke first without warning. Launching forward from his stance, taking out a kunai and slashed at Sasuke's left arm, which was blocked with his own kunai. Sasuke closed his eyes, chuckling and opened them again, red eyes staring at Naruto. Naruto jumped back, holding the kunai in front of him as a defense as he took out another kunai and threw both at Sasuke. He blocked both with his own and the four kunais clanged against the ground. Naruto formed a hand sign, yelling.

"Mass Shadow Clones Technique!"

Ten clones appeared in arrow formation, with the original in front of the line. Sasuke smirked and used his multiple fireball technique to take out all of the clones except the original who jumped out of the way in time. Both growled in frustration as Naruto landed several feet further away from Sasuke. Naruto spat at the ground, grinning at him who grinned back. Naruto formed the same sign, shouting the same words, causing Sasuke to exhale with irritation.

Naruto created twenty clones of himself, surrounding Sasuke, preparing to attack him differently this time. Using his eyes, Sasuke studied the clones, and when the three attacked him from three different directions and saw which will land first, he dodged the first punch, sending a kick through the clone's stomach while twisting his torso to punch the second clone in the face before it could land an attack. The both clones vanished in a cloud of smoke.

Caught up in the first two clones, the last clone sent a punch to Sasuke's stomach, sending him flying into a branch. He flipped and landed underside of the branch and threw a kunai at the third clone, causing it to disappear.

"That was a good warm up, Naruto," said Sasuke, reverting back into his defensive stance, using his chakra to stay upside down on the tree's branch.

"All thanks to me," said Naruto, grinning, "Let's bring it on!"

"Stop talking and fight," said Sasuke, waiting in his crouched stance.

Ten clones attacked Sasuke at once, some throwing kunais and shurikens, others throwing kicks and punches. After ten minutes of solid fighting, all but five clones were gone, including the real Naruto.

"I wonder which one of you is real," said Sasuke, jumping off the branch and landed twenty feet away from the clones, "Let's find out."

'_Real Naruto?' _thought Sasuke, momentarily freezing.

"_Naruto," he gritted his teeth, closing his eyes, giving him a small grin, "Kukuku…" he chuckled evilly, "You've gotten stronger, and what have I been doing? Kukuku… nothing!"_

_Naruto stared at Sasuke, fearing Sasuke. His laughter seemed eerily similar to Orochimaru's. He shook his head, his chest heaving with pain, struggling to hold his tears back. He closed his eyes, raising his hand to Sasuke's cheeks, causing to take him by surprise and stopped the evil sounding laughter as Naruto spoke._

"_Brother… If you want to blame my powers on something…" he said, "then blame it on Nine-tails demon that lies within me. Blame it on Konoha Village for it."_

"_Nine-tails…? What the hell are you talking about?" asked Sasuke and sighed. "Whatever, it's too late, kukuku," said Sasuke, "Whether you have a demon or not in you, it's all the same to me."_

The four clones attacked Sasuke at once, taking the advantage of Sasuke's pause in fight. Sasuke felt the force of each punch and the movements soon became a blur of a single punch. The force of the punches sent him flying into tree after tree after another, stopping at the fifth tree.

Groaning in pain, he clenched his fists, _'Damn it, why did I have to remember this now?' _wondered Sasuke.

Amidst of yelling and cries, Sasuke lied there, his mind feeling disconnected from his body. He closed his eyes, realizing the real reason why Naruto had so much stamina, so much power.

'_Damnit… Damnit, damnit! Why Naruto? Why?'_ he thought. _'Why does he have such a demon in him? He's… he's…_' he paused, clenching his fists,_ 'he's my brother!'_

He opened his eyes and saw Naruto in front of him, panic written all over his face like a mother worrying about her child. Sasuke gave him a weak smile.

"I—I'm fine, let's fight some more," he said, using his elbows to sit up.

"No, that's enough, you're injured, Sasuke," said Jiraiya. "You'll have to visit the hospital," he paused, looking at Naruto, "Now that I thought of it… Naruto, _you're_ still in your hospital clothes. You two need to go to the hospital."

Naruto sighed, "I was hoping you'd let it slide since I can fight and all…"

"Well yes," he said, sighing, "but you need to be officially discharged just so we'll be on Tsunade's good graces."

"Good point," agreed Naruto, nodding.

"Right. Now, Sakura, please help Sasuke up," he said, leading the way back to the village.

"Yes sir!" she said, walking over to him to help him up and the three followed him out of the forest.


	5. What are the kids up to?

**What are the kids up to?**

**Disclaimer: **This belongs to the series, Naruto. None of these parts are mine and are only written for entertainment purposes.

The woman nodded to herself as she put down the report and picked up her cup of sake to soothe her nerves. Only she and whatever deity knew how much sake she needed to calm herself down. The office would have been in pieces a long time ago if it weren't for the special drink. Setting the cup down, savoring the taste of her drink in her mouth and swallowed.

'_Naruto… Sasuke… Sakura…'_ she thought, looking at the report in front of her. _'Jiraiya, you fool. How on earth could you forget that Naruto still had healing to do! It's a good thing that nothing bad happened to halt the healing process.'_

She steepled her fingers together, elbows on the desk and studied the photographs of Hokages that preceded her. _'I'll have to devise something so the three can train without hurting themselves in the process.'_

She heard a knock on the door and with a permission of entry from her; the grey haired ninja entered the office. She sighed, pushing the thoughts of the three genins to the back of her mind as she dealt with the matters at hand.

"How did the mission go, Kakashi?" she asked.

"Very well, just some setbacks caused by few appearances of missing-nins from other villages. Other than that, the mission succeeded without a hitch."

"That's good. I will want a more detailed report from you on the missing-nins. Now, I'll have you to know what happened few days ago," Tsunade said, sitting back. "It's your students."

"Ah?" prompted Kakashi.

"Naruto left the hospital for awhile, thanks to that fool, Jiraiya. At one point, Sasuke and Naruto 'sparred.'"

Kakashi groaned, covering his eye with his right hand in exasperation and waited for her to continue.

"Sasuke seemed to have a momentary lapse in defending himself from Naruto's clones and crashed into five trees. So now he is recovering in the hospital, along with Naruto," she continued.

"Momentary lapse?" questioned Kakashi, putting his hand down.

"Sasuke wouldn't answer that question either. So maybe if you talked with him…" she said, trailing off.

"I see, I'll see what I can do," he said, nodding.

"Of course, for all we know, he could have had involuntary lapse where none of his functions would respond to his thoughts. However, I highly doubt it was that," she said.

Kakashi nodded in agreement.

She closed her eyes, her posture tensed and Kakashi realized something else was up.

"Kakashi, Jiraiya also left in the report that Sasuke has asked Naruto of a favor. It seems that he has asked it of Sakura as well."

"What's that?" queried Kakashi.

She studied Kakashi and looked down at the report and closed her eyes. "He wants help in avenging his clan."

Kakashi's right eye widened in surprise and asked, "And?"

"Both of them said yes."

"Interesting… it seems that something has changed his way of thinking," he said. She nodded in agreement, smiling. "Of which, is very good for the Konoha," Kakashi said with a smile.

"Now, according to this report, the boys were discharged about two hours ago, so I have no idea where any of the three are."

"I see," he paused, "I have some ideas where Sasuke is," he said.

"Good… Well, that is all, you may leave now, thank you for reporting in," Tsunade said.

Kakashi left the room, closing the door behind him.

Tsunade stared at the door and let out a sigh, closing her eyes. _'Of the three… I worry the most about you, Sakura. What exactly do you want out of the favor Sasuke asked of you?'_

Kakashi looked back, and acknowledged the ANBU members guarding the door and walked among the hallways toward the exit.

'_Sasuke… What are you thinking now?' _he thought, leaving the building. _'What do you want now? Just use your teammates to avenge your clan?'_ he thought.

He sighed, looking up towards the sky, _'I wish I knew what you are thinking, Sasuke.'_

nmnmnmnm

On the other side of the village, chuckles emitted from a man, watching through a hole in the wooden fence. He took notes on what the girls were doing and sketching them. Jiraiya frowned, remembering something and sighed. He sat up straight, putting the notepad away and crossed his arms in thought.

'_Damnit, I can't stay focused on those women… This is _really_ annoying,'_ he thought, growling to himself. _'I guess that's to be expected, since Naruto seem to have that uncanny tendency to butt into people's mind when they don't want them. Or at least, in my case.'_

Jiraiya watched the girls soothed themselves with hot water and simply having a good time in the hot spring.

'_Well, what should I do with Naruto and his teammates? I can't train them all at once, that's Kakashi's job. I suppose I'll have to take him as my apprentice. If I did that, I would be doing Naruto a disservice by taking him and leave the village for awhile and deprive him of his teammates,'_ he paused his thinking.

"Bah,"he muttered to himself, picking up a rock and crushed it into powder with his chakra.

'_Though, I _can_ take him out of village for awhile. But how often? Two weeks in village and two weeks outside. Or one month in village and one month outside,'_ he shook his head, _'no, that will not do. One week in village and two weeks outside of village.'_

Satisfied, he smiled to himself. _'That will be the schedule. Starting now.'_

Grinning, he took his notes out and began observing the women. He congratulated on himself for such brilliance in freeing himself of distractions without the help of sake.

nmnmnmnm

Sakura wandered among the buildings of Konoha, wondering if she should see the Hokage about something. She felt something was gripping her heart and it was starting to drive her nuts. Growling, her inner Sakura felt like shredding every single thing in sight into pieces from frustration. Sakura let out a sharp exhale, looking up and saw the Hokage's building.

'_Well, here goes nothing,'_ she said to herself as she entered the building. _'I hope Sasuke and Naruto's attempt will succeed as well.'_

She made her way to the office and requested entry. Tsunade called out to enter and she came in with a determined face.

"Hi Tsunade-sama."

nmnmnmnm

Sasuke knew that his sensei would be back today, but where could he find him, was the question. The past few days sitting in bed had bored him out of his mind. He realized that just simply training on their own without any guidance or supervision, they wouldn't get as strong.

'_If I was Kakashi, where I would be? If he went to Tsunade to report on his mission and heard about me… ah right. He would be looking for me now,'_ he thought, jumping from roof to roof to the place where Kakashi thought Sasuke might be at.

True to his prediction, he found Kakashi arriving at the tree where Sasuke was before he went to Sound four.

"Kakashi-sensei!"

"Hm?" he looked up and spotted him. Sasuke landed before him with a neutral expression.

nmnmnmnm

Hours earlier, Naruto spotted a note next to his bedside just as he was leaving the hospital and read the letter.

_Naruto, _

_Come find me. I have to talk to you about something._

_Jiraiya _

_(NOT Pervert Hermit, _please

Naruto chuckled at the last line and shoved the note into his pocket.

"Well, first on the to-do list after I'm discharged... Ichiraku!" he said to himself, punching the air.

Few hours later of eating and savoring the taste of ramen, he patted his stomach, "Ahh, that was good! Hm... there was something I had to do…"

He paid for his food and left, stuffing his hands into his pocket and felt the paper.

'_Oh yeah… Pervert Hermit wanted to talk to me,' _he thought, pausing his walk. _'Now where would he be? Of course, the hot spring,'_ he thought sarcastically as he ran to the place. _'I wonder if Sasuke is asking him the same thing. Maybe I should use this chance to ask too.'_

"Pervert Hermit! Here I am!" said Naruto, arriving where Jiraiya was.

He huffed in annoyance when Naruto saw Pervert Hermit was distracted by the hot women. He held his hand in jutsu signs and yelled, "Sexy Technique!"

"Ohh Jiraiya-sama!" said Naruto, giving him blow kisses with his hand.

He looked behind himself and Jiraiya let out a heavy nose as he fell backwards when he saw the naked sexy figure.

Naruto returned to normal, puffing at him in annoyance as Jiraiya set himself back on the boulder.

"Right, to the business at hand," Jiraiya said, clearing his throat.

"I wanna ask you a question before whatever you want to talk to me about," interrupted Naruto.

Jiraiya huffed in annoyance and nodded.

nmnmnmnm

Throughout the village, the genins asked their respective adults the same question.

"Will you make me your apprentice?" asked the three, hoping the adult they asked will answer yes.

The adults, if far apart, thought the same thing as they stared at the genin in front of them and smiled.

"Yes, I will take you on as my apprentice," the three adults replied with a smile.

With each three of the genins, they all grinned at the response.

'_Why do I feel as though this same thing happened to Sasuke and Sakura just now?'_ wondered Nartuo as he scratched his head and shrugged.


	6. How much stronger have they gotten?

**How much stronger have they gotten?**

**Disclaimer: **This belongs to the series, Naruto. None of these parts are mine and are only written for entertainment purposes.

Neji dodged a punch that would have severed his chakra pathways and ducked to knock the opponent over with his sweeping leg. She rolled with the force and threw a kunai at him who knocked it out of the way with his hand. She pushed off the ground and did a backhand spring three times, landing into a stance to attack him again. Using her byakugan eyes, she launched forward, punching his left leg, succeeding in severing Neji's chakra point.

"Arugh," Neji muttered. "That's enough."

"Okay, Neji-san," Hinta said, standing up.

"You're getting better, I'll have to give you that much," he said, turning around and left, but not before he heard her talking.

"Th-thank you, Neji-san," she said, flustered by his comment.

Neji closed his eyes in frustration and sighed, _'Ever since the Chuunin exams, all she wants is to spar. With me! She's not what she used to be. Damnit Naruto_.'

He walked several streets away from the Hyuuga complex and found Sasuke sitting on a bench, watching the river flow by. Neji noticed that Kakashi was standing next to him, talking to him. He increased the amount of chakra to his ears to hear what they were talking about.

"After that, I'll teach you how to use electricity throughout your body so the opponents will not be able to land a punch on you, much less be near you. You are progressing extremely well since you've become an apprentice."

"Use electricity throughout my body? Is that possible?" asked Sasuke, looking up at his sensei.

"Yes it is, today is your day off as it has been a week since you've become my apprentice," Kakashi said.

Neji stopped the chakra flowing to his ears, realizing the implications of apprentice and power. He walked away, understanding that he was weaker than Sasuke. He narrowed his eyes in anger, feeling inferior to the other clan with doujutsu bloodline limit.

'_I'll have to talk to Hiashi about increasing my training routine. The way it is now, I'll never be on the same level as him!'_

nmnmnmnm

Lee finished doing five-hundred pushups with one arm and began running eight-hundred laps around Konoha. He stopped on his third lap when he saw Sakura carrying supplies in her arms out of a store, walking alongside Hokage-sama. He was close enough to hear the two women conversing among themselves.

"So once you master this technique, you will be able to heal the most basic wounds as well as delivering punches big enough to crush a house into smithereens."

"Really, Tsunade-sama?" asked Sakura, widening her eyes in surprise.

"Yes, I can show you right here," she said, stopping at an old stone fence and flicked it with her finger, eradicating twenty feet of stone into smithereens.

She looked at Sakura, smiling, not breaking a sweat. Lee froze in shock, watching after the two women as their voices faded. Lee stared down at the ground, frowning at his useless genjutsu and ninjutsu.

'_If Sakura-chan can do that, then maybe, I should be able to do massive blows with my own power. I know I'll never be able to achieve what other ninjas can, but I will be the best taijutsu ninja there is!' _Lee nodded and resumed his running exercise. _'My blows will be just as big as Hokage-sama's! I'll make sure of it.'_

nmnmnmnm

She threw ten kunais and shuriken at ten different targets in different angles and marked each dead on. She called them back with her chakra strings and threw them again using different set of kunais to change their paths and hit different targets than they were originally aimed for. Smirking, she called them back again and put them away in her scrolls of weapons.

'_Gah, I'm so tired. I need to get some lunch,'_ she thought, putting the scroll on her back in a holster. _'I guess I could use some miso soup, so Ichiraku, it is!'_ she thought, walking into the village.

Ten-Ten stopped when he saw a pair was eating there and smirked.

'_Well, well, Naruto's here. But who's the other fellow?'_ she wondered, almost entering behind the curtains when she heard voices.

"Well Naruto, I talked with Kakashi and I think you might be interested to know that there's a faster way to train than what we were doing," the man said, slurping some food, ramen most likely, down.

"Faster way? How?" Naruto asked, echoing Ten-Ten's thoughts as he slurped some ramen down as well. "If there is a faster way, then why hasn't he told me about it before?"

"He didn't want to make the team unbalanced if one of you became too strong. But now's the time is better than any to get all of you three get stronger as fast as you can since if you plan on helping Sasuke with his mission."

"Oh, I get it," Naruto said. "So, you'll show me how?"

"Yeah," said the other person.

'_What? Does this mean that Naruto will get _even_ stronger? No way!'_ Ten-Ten thought.

Curiosity became strong enough to see who this mysterious man was, who seemed to know Kakashi and Naruto and others. Moving the curtain out of the way as she entered and Ten-Ten sat down next to him, waving to Naruto and the other guy.

"Hello!" Ten-Ten greeted.

"Oh hey, Ten-Ten!" Naruto said, waving.

"Hello there," said the other man.

"What's your name?" asked Ten-Ten.

"Jiraiya," he replied.

"You're one of the sannin!" asked Ten-Ten, raising both eyebrows.

"That's right," he replied, finishing his bowl of ramen.

Ten-Ten ordered two bowl of miso ramen and began conversing with Naruto and Jiraiya. Ten-Ten learned that the pair was leaving tomorrow for two weeks to train. Upon asking why, she also realized that Jiraiya took Naruto in as an apprentice as his teammates needed to get strong and fast in order to complete the upcoming mission.

"What mission?" asked Ten-Ten, eating her ramen as Naruto ate his forth bowl.

"That's classified," Naruto replied, swallowing the liquids in the bowl.

"Oh, okay," she said, finishing eating her first bowl.

The three continued eating in silence and after they were finished, Jiraiya and Naruto stood up, Ten-Ten followed. Then the three paid for their meals and left, she followed Naruto, wanting to know more about the pair.

"Can I come along with you for a bit?" asked Ten-Ten.

"Sure!" Naruto replied.

"Well, I need to be off to do some more research," Jiraiya said.

"Alright, Pervert Hermit," Naruto said, rolling his eyes.

"Will you stop calling me that!" yelled Jiraiya, punching Naruto in the arm and walked several meters away to flirt with some of the women.

Ten-Ten shook he head and looked at Naruto.

"Why is he a pervert?" asked Ten-Ten.

"You know the books Kakashi reads?" asked Naruto.

"Yeah?"

"Jiraiya's that author. He … watches women in hot spring," he explained, sighing as he scratched his head.

"W-what!" Ten-Ten blushed and looked at Jiraiya's form in the distance.

'_I'm never going to a hot spring again!' _she thought, her face still completely red.

Ten-Ten saw Sakura and Tsunade walking towards them and greeted them with a wave. From the other direction came Sasuke and Kakashi.

"Well, here are my teammates!" said Naruto, laughing. "Oi, Sakura-chan, Sasuke!"

"Hey there, Naruto, Ten-Ten!" said Sakura, walking to a stop.

Sasuke nodded in greeting Naruto and Ten-Ten. She saw Neji walking towards the group and stopped as well as Lee running to a walk when he saw the group of people. The group stared at each other in uncomfortable silence.

"Uh… hi everyone?" asked Naruto, a sweat running down the side of his face as he grinned. "Well, just let you know, Sakura-chan and Sasuke. I'll be gone for two weeks with Jira—er, Pervert Hermit."

Tsunade sighed, "Why don't you use his name, Naruto?"

"Because he _is_ a pervert, granny!"

'_Uh-oh, Naruto…'_ Lee thought, flinching as Tsunade glared at him.

Looking at other people, she sighed and kept walking, followed by Sakura. A breath that everyone didn't know they were holding, exhaled in relief.

"Naruto, you need to stop trying to piss Tsunade-chan off!" Jirayai said, his body completely relaxed after a moment of tension. "Well then, I suppose we'll carry on."

"Bye Ten-Ten!" Naruto said, waving.

"Bye Naruto," she replied, waving back.

Neji, Ten-Ten and Lee stared at each other and shrugged as Naruto, Sasuke and Kakashi left.

"Well, they are getting stronger…" said Ten-Ten.

"Yeah, it makes me want to train even harder than ever," said Neji, nodding.

"Naruto's going to be gone for two weeks?" asked Lee.

"Yeah, something about a faster method of training," Ten-Ten replied.

"What technique?" asked Lee, perking up at the question.

"I don't know, I overheard their conversation…" she replied.

"Still, damn, a faster method?" asked Neji.

The three teammates of Gai's stood there, thinking about the Team seven and their progress.

"We have to get stronger to keep up with them," said Neji.

"Agreed!" said Lee and Ten-Ten.


	7. What's going on with Team seven?

**What's going on with Team 7?**

**Disclaimer: **This belongs to the series, Naruto. None of these parts are mine and are only written for entertainment purposes.

Shikamaru scratched his head in annoyance as he followed Ino who babbled on and on about Sasuke, Sakura and Naruto. Sighing out of irritation, he opened his mouth.

"Will you ever shut up?" he asked.

"No! I mean, two weeks ago, Ten-Ten said that Kakashi, Jiraiya and Hokage-sama took Sasuke, Naruto and Sakura as apprentice, respectively! I want to see how much stronger Team seven have gotten since Naruto came back yesterday from training! I heard that there's a faster method…" Ino continued on prattling.

Shikamaru sighed as he tuned her out and stared at the sky, wishing to be anywhere else but with Ino.

"Shut up, Ino," said Chouji, eating chips, "can't you see that Shikamaru doesn't care what you're talking about?"

"But you two should take this seriously!" snapped Ino, stopping in front of them.

Ino's abrupt stop caused Shikamaru to crash into her slightly and moved a few feet away from her. He sighed again, shrugging his shoulders.

"Fine, where are they at?" asked Shikamaru.

"It's not much further," Ino replied.

Satisfied with herself, she turned around and kept walking, followed by two reluctant boys.

When they arrived, the three stopped walking and stared, their eyes growing bigger, trying to comprehend what they were seeing. The team seven was moving faster than they used to be since the Chuunin exams. Ino watched them for few moments in awe, unable to take her eyes off them.

"Am I seeing things or are they all using a bunch of different new jutsu?" asked Ino, crouching forward toward a bush, followed by other two. "And their speed! She commented.

Sakura punched the ground, causing a mini-earthquake towards the two boys on the battlefield. Naruto jumped up and landed on a tree branch upside down, concentrating and caused the area around Sakura become windy and sucking the oxygen out of the vortex she was in. Sakura jumped out of the area to escape before she blacked out from lack of oxygen. Sasuke filled his hands with electricity and grabbed the tree Naruto was standing on, jolting Naruto.

Naruto fell to the ground, yelling in pain, losing feeling in his body. Sakura and Sasuke stared at each other, not moving a muscle as Naruto's body twitched.

Sakura jumped up the moment Sasuke moved his arm and she threw three kunai at Sasuke who blocked each with his fireball jutsu, melting the metals into liquids. Sakura glared and fired water at Sasuke who barely dodged and hit his back, creating a hole in his shirt.

'_That's going to be a bruise! Damn you, Sakura!' _thought Ino. _'How can you hurt Sasuke!'_

"Hm, they _are_ getting stronger," said Shikamaru, leaving the area.

Ino snapped to Shikamaru, her face slacked and her muscles tensed again, raising a fist.

"What, hey you!" said Ino, going after him, followed by Chouji.

"Just because I leave, doesn't mean you have to follow me," Shikamaru said, rolling his eyes. "I'll see you some other time. Bye Ino, Chouji."

Ino glared at him as he left the two there. Chouji shrugged and walked a different direction, leaving Ino alone. Huffing to herself, she walked away.

'_Well, I did get to see how much stronger Sakura has… and so did the other two teammates. I hope this will motivated my team good!'_ she thought. _'Sakura… I can't believe how much stronger and confident you have gotten. I wonder what it's like to train under Hokage-sama?'_

She frowned, wondering how she was going to get stronger if they only had one master for themselves to get stronger. Ino began to wish for a one-on-one training, to be an apprentice of someone. Sighing, she shook her head.

'_I can seek Shikamaru and Chouji to gain power with. I'm sure Asuma-sensei is enough to train us. We'll have to ask him to work us harder than ever. If we don't… how will we ever keep up with Team seven?'_

nmnmnmnm

Shikamaru stopped on the hilltop, overlooking the village. He sat down and lied on his back, watching the clouds drift by. He sighed, closing his eyes, feeling the warmth of the sunrays on his face. He opened them, glaring at the sky, rolling to his right side, his hand on the ground with his right fist supporting his face.

'_I guess Ino has a point, those three _are_ getting stronger. From this, I guess Ino and Chouji will want to get gain more strength and speed or we'll be left in the dust,' _he thought and sighed. _'Why do things have to be so hard? This is a peaceful time, damnit!'_

He thought back to the Chuunin exams and sighed.

'_Perhaps not _peaceful,_ per se, but it's as peaceful as it can be… If that's true, then why are the team seven's masters training them so hard? What is their purpose? If they know something is going to happen, then why don't Hokage train us all of us?'_

He snorted to himself, _'Stupid, that's why we have a jounin sensei for each team! So, why then, are Jiraiya, Hokage and Kakashi necessary to train each one-on-one?' _he wondered, studying the shape of each cloud.

'_Still, Ino _does_ have a point. I don't like the idea of Naruto getting stronger than me. Though, he'll never have my smarts. Hell will freeze over if he even got _any _smarts,' _he thought and chuckled and stopped when he saw the image of Sasuke.

'_Sasuke… that bastard. My first mission was all about him. I don't think I can ever forgive him for betraying Konoha in the first place. If it weren't for Naruto, my mission would have failed.'_

'_Though, that fight just now, Sasuke somehow got more power enough to melt the kunai. What power is that! It's insane. What's driving him now? Why did he need to seek Orochimaru in the first place… for power? Couldn't he have sought us out instead? Probably not, we're too peaceful, I'll give him that.'_

Sighing again to himself, _'I'll have to talk to Asuma-sensei about training us harder, even though I don't like the idea. _They_ will. After all, watching that fight was rather inspirational, if I have to admit it.'_

nmnmnmnm

Chouji munched on the chips as he sat down on a bench facing a tree. He narrowed his eyebrows together in thought as he ate each handful of chips separately. His mind turned to the battle royal the Team Seven was having and remembered each move committed by each member. He frowned in thought as he compared himself to Naruto.

'_Of the three, I thought Naruto was the weakest. And in that fight, it's true that he was down for the count. Nonetheless, he already began using his nature of chakra. When did he even begun training that? What kind of training method Ino mentioned that Naruto used? Oh yeah, speed method or something,' _he thought, swallowing his food.

'_That fight, if we saw was just a fraction of the battle; then how much of that have we yet to see, learn and know? Are we, as genins, being left in the dust?'_

Chouji groaned, rubbing the temples of his head and sighed.

'_Too much chips and probably strained my mind. I need to fight. I can't let that mission about getting Sasuke back to the village get to me. It sure was a wake up call to train harder than ever. But now seeing Team seven already stronger, we need to, as well.'_

He paused his hand inside the bag, watching a butterfly float by and smiled.

'_In any case, I need to find Asuma-sensei.'_

Chouji stood up and began his way to Asuma's house to ask about being trained harder than ever. He found Shikamaru and Ino there, looking for something.

"Have you seen Asuma-sensei?" Ino asked, frowning.

"No," Chouji replied, "I'm looking for him too."

"Oh really? Why?"

"To ask if he can train us harder. Or at least me, if you two don't…"

"Oh yay!" Ino cried, clapping her hands together, "So do I!"

Shikamaru smirked, "That makes things easier, I was going to ask Asuma-sensei the same thing too."

"Ah, so that's why you three are gathered here," someone said, appearing from the trees behind them. "So, you three want to get stronger?"

"Yes please!" said Ino. "I showed them that Team seven is getting stronger and now I want to catch up to them."

The boys nodded in agreement.

"Hey Asuma-sensei, do you know why Team seven needs to get stronger?" asked Shikamaru.

Asuma exhaled a smoke and shook his head.

"Yes and no. Only those working with Team seven know the exact reason. So that's Jiraiya, Kakashi and Hokage-sama herself," he replied. "I do know the basics, and they're training to complete a classified mission."

"What mission is it ranked as?" asked Ino.

"A S-class rank," Asuma replied.

"What! But they're still genins!" Ino exclaimed, clutching both fists in front of her.

"I know…" Asuma said, closing his eyes. "Everyone said the same thing."

"Well, isn't that dangerous?" Chouji asked.

"Couldn't Hokage-sama send a competent ninja team to do whatever the S-rank mission is?" asked Shikamaru.

"Most of us jounins asked that as well as some of the ANBU members, Shikamaru. Hokage-sama or even Jiraiya won't budge. Whatever it is, I think it's a personal issue that the three genins have to deal with," Asuma replied.

Shikamaru frowned in thought at the reply, and nodding.

"It is probably a personal issue that deals with the mission. If it is, shouldn't ninjas be free of emotions when given a mission? Better yet, why give a mission to a ninja that he is personally involved in with?"

"That's enough questions, Shikamaru," Asuma said, rubbing the bridge of his nose.

"But, at any rate, we'll train harder than ever!" Chouji said, clenching his fist in excitement.

"Good," he said, grinning, "now start the warm ups!"

Shikamaru let out a groan and the other three chuckled as they began their exercises.


	8. We're here for a visit

**We're here for a visit**

**Disclaimer: **This belongs to the series, Naruto. None of these parts are mine and are only written for entertainment purposes.

At the entrance in the west of Konoha village, stood three figures. The ANBU members identified them and allowed their entry into the Hidden Leaf. The red haired ninja nodded to his siblings as if in going with a plan. The three split up and went about their way in the streets.

Alone, he kept his arms crossed as he searched for the ninja. One of the first places he checked was the Ichiraku as he heard so much about from several different sources who commented where the demon container might be at. He was pleased to see a familiar yellow hair boy in his orange jumpsuit.

"Hello, Naruto," he greeted.

"Hmm?" Naruto looked around and grinned, "Hey Gaara! You're here for some ramen?"

"No… but I suppose I can have some," he replied, sitting down next to Naruto. He ordered some to the chef who began to pour some miso ramen for Gaara.

"Awesome," he said, eating some more noodles of ramen. "So, where are Temari and Kankuro at?"

"They're out somewhere in the village," Gaara replied.

"Ah, so then what are you doing in the village?" asked Naruto, finishing up his bowl.

"To ask you a few questions. We've heard what is going on with you and your comrades," Gaara said.

"Huh? Is the word about our training really is spreading that far and fast?" asked Naruto, raising an eyebrow.

"Or rather, your apprentices with some of three of the most powerful sensei in the village," Gaara replied.

"Oh, it's no big deal," said Naruto, chuckling as he scratched his ear in thought. "Is it?"

"I suppose it's not from your point of view," Gaara answered. "All the same, we heard something about speed training is included in your regime. What is this speed training you're using?"

"Oh! My Mass Shadow Clone technique!" said Naruto.

"Your favorite jutsu, I see," muttered Gaara. "That makes sense now. Dividing and gaining more experience in a short amount of time. I could try using that exercise."

"Yeah! I mean, since you have a demon in you as well, it should be a piece of cake," said Naruto, grinning.

Gaara smiled, nodding in agreement, "I'll have to learn how to do the mass shadow clone technique first," he said, "then I can get stronger to protect my village without too much concern. And to get their approval as well."

"Oh, you're going to be Kazekage?" asked Naruto.

"No," he replied with a smile, "I _am_ Kazekage."

"What, no way!" exclaimed Naruto, pouting. _'That's no fair, he already achieved the goal I aim to achieve!'_ Naruto thought and grinned.

"Well, you have my blessings, Gaara," Naruto said.

"Thanks, Naruto."

The pair continued to converse among themselves, eating bowls upon bowls of ramen.

nmnmnmnm

Temari walked along the river, gazing at the reflections of trees in the water, searching for a certain girl. She had to find out to see if the rumors were true, it was gnawing at her and she had to find out. At the bridge ahead, she saw a person with the familiar pink hair leaning over the fence of the walkway.

'_I guess her mom really knows Sakura well,'_ Temari thought as she approached her.

"Hey Sakura," she said, waving and smiled at her.

"Hey Temari," greeted Sakura, narrowing an eyebrow.

Temari stood next to her, leaning over the bridge and watched leaves float by.

"This place is really peaceful," commented Temari.

"Yeah…" Sakura agreed with a smile. "I do most of my thinking here."

The two girls shared a silence for few minutes, watching the water flow past.

"Why are you here?" asked Sakura, looking at Temari.

"Because we heard something about you and your comrades," she replied, turning around and leaned back against the fence.

"Is it true that you're being trained under Hokage's apprenticeship?" she asked.

"Yes, that is true," replied Sakura.

She eyed Temari with a suspicious look in her eye, wondering why Temari was asking these questions. Temari chuckled and looked at Sakura.

"There's nothing to be worried about. I'm only curious since I heard that you're able to deal massive power, creating earthquakes. Also, I heard you're also learning to become a medical ninja as well. Personally, I'm interested in being one, but there are not enough resources in my village to be an excellent medical ninja," she said.

"Oh, that's not good. You need to be able to have resources to become a decent one," Sakura said, frowning. "Do you have good chakra control?"

Temari laughed, "Are you kidding me? I do have a good amount of chakra control to be one. I know that much," she said.

"I'll talk to Hokage-sama and see what she says about giving you some resources to start with. I don't think we'll be giving you _everything,_ since we do have secrets to protect."

"That's understandable," Temari said, "we have some of our own as well. So don't worry."

The two girls smiled at each other when they found themselves in another lull. Sakura sighed, looking up at the clouds, enjoying the friendly silence between themselves.

nmnmnmnm

Kankuro scanned the streets as he walked, trying to find the elusive boy. According to the information he gathered, he could be in one of the two spots. He growled to himself when he found him at neither place. So now, it was up to him to search for him manually.

Rumbling in frustration, he sat down on a bench leading to the East gates of Konoha.

'_Where the hell is that traitor boy at? He's neither by the river nor the tree he usually sits at. I wonder where he lives…' _he thought, stroking his chin in thought.

Several minutes spent sitting at the bench, lost in his thoughts and unaware of the surroundings, or the shuffling feet approaching him. Kankuro jumped up from his seat with his kunai out when he realized that someone was five feet away. _'Damn, how could I have been so careless?' _ he wondered.

He blinked and took a double take when he realized who it was.

"Sasuke!" he said, putting the kunai back in his pocket, "sorry about that."

"…It's no problem. Kakashi-sensei said you were looking for me," he said, eyebrow raised at his actions.

"Oh, did he really…" he said, muttering to himself.

He scratched head, looking away. _'Damn, how did this get so uncomfortable?'_

"Where are your teammates?" asked Sasuke, scanning the area suspiciously.

"Oh, they're talking to Naruto and Sakura. Uh…" he mumbled, letting his hood down, revealing his red hair. "I heard that there was a rumor that you're getting stronger."

"Yeah, and?" replied Sasuke, raising an eyebrow at the question.

"Don't be so full of yourself, Uchiha," Kankuro said, narrowing his eyes, "your action to your own village speaks volume about you. I can't understand why the Hokage won't penalize you for it."

"That's because she's an idiot," Sasuke said, smirking.

He dropped the smirk when Kankuro punched him in the face, knocking Sasuke several steps back and Sasuke stared at him.

Kankuro bared his teeth, his fingers twitching and started shouting at him.

"How dare you insult your own Hokage like that! You're worse than trash, Uchiha and you don't have _any of my respect!_ I don't get Naruto or Hokage! Why… why did they forgive you so easily?"

Sasuke stared at him and closed his eyes, stuffing his hands into his pockets.

"Kankuro, you may think the village has forgiven me, but since I came back from that incident, everyone hasn't treated me the same. They all have not forgiven me."

"Well, good, that means your village is not gullible," Kankuro spat. "I only hope you'll slip up again and even Naruto won't be able to forgive you. I mean, he _is_ a complete idiot and his weak brain will learn that you're not trustworthy."

Sasuke clenched his teeth in a snarl, "Don't talk to me about Naruto like that."

"Or else, what?" he challenged.

Sasuke's fist connected with Kankuro's jaw, sending him fly few feet from where he stood. Landing in a patch of dried mud, he rubbed his jaw, looking at Sasuke. Kankuro smirked, Sasuke frowned at the emotion the puppeteer was showing.

"So, you don't like me insulting Naruto, huh?" asked Kankuro, standing up, flicking the flakes of dirt off him.

"Well, he deserves to have grown up the way he did, with no parents and all. For all you know, he really could kill you all in your sleep one night. I don't trust Naruto any more than I trust you, Uchiha."

Sasuke hook punched him and the body flew into the tree with a resounding crack.

"Shut the hell up! You don't know him, Kankuro, you bastard!" he yelled, muttering the jutsu and sent several fireballs at him.

When the fire died down, he saw the remains of a puppet dangling in the tree. Sasuke heard clapping behind him and spun around to see Kankuro. Snarling, he took a kunai out.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, wait a minute!" said Kankuro, holding his hands up, "I was just trying to see if you were really trustworthy!"

"That was low, Kankuro," he said, baring his teeth at him, "I really don't like you much."

"Sasuke!" someone yelled, "Wait up!"

He looked and found Naruto running to him, followed by Gaara at a slower pace. Naruto rested his hands on his knees, panting, looking up at Sasuke, grinning.

"Don't spar without me, Sasuke!"

"Well, in any case, you passed the test, Sasuke. Sorry," said Kankuro, scratching his head nervously.

"You know I don't approve of those _underhanded _techniques outside the battles, Kankuro," said Gaara, glaring at him.

Kankuro cringed, nodding, "I know, but he did betray the Hidden Leaf."

"Oh please," Naruto started, "if it's about that, it's been worked out. Sasuke realized some stuff and we'll just leave it at that. Right Sasuke?" he asked, grinning.

"Yeah…" he said quietly.

"Well, I'm satisfied then," Kankuro said, pulling his hood up.

"Oh Gaara, Kankuro!" cried a woman's voice, the boys turned and found Temari and Sakura walking to them, waving to them.

"Hey Temari!" said Kankuro, waving back.

"So, what are you boys doing here? Have we got a motel room yet?" she asked.

"Room?" asked Kankuro, looking at Gaara. "I thought we'd leave after what we—"

"No, there's more things I need to do," said Gaara, interrupting him, "Naruto," he said, turning to him, "I had a wonderful conversation with you. I do hope your goal is achieved. When that day comes, let me know so I may give you a blessing."

Gaara smiled at Naruto who grinned back in reply, Gaara sighed and turned to his siblings, "Shall we go?"

The other two and nodded as they said their good byes. Once the Sand ninjas turned at a corner, vanishing from view, Sakura spoke up.

"Why do you have a kunai in your hand, Sasuke?"

"Oh, er… nothing," he muttered, putting the kunai away.

Sakura shrugged and Naruto grinned.

"Say, we train together?" asked Naruto, "Since I'll be leaving with Jiraiya tomorrow."

"Sure, we haven't done that in awhile," Sakura said and Sasuke nodded.


	9. Please make us stronger, sensei!

**Please make us stronger, sensei!**

**Disclaimer: **This belongs to the series, Naruto. None of these parts are mine and are only written for entertainment purposes.

Hinata exited the medical store, watching another pair enter the same door, conversing in low tones. She turned around and saw that it was Sakura and the Hokage. She blinked and realized that the pair was becoming a common sight in the village and she frowned at the thoughts.

'_Why do I get the feeling that I'm jealous? I shouldn't even _be _jealous! My father is like the Hokage, only tougher,' _she thought as she carried her bag of supplies to her home.

She sighed and looked back, studying the store sign and thought about Sakura.

'_She is so lucky to be on Naruto's team, how is it that I, a quiet girl, end up with Shino and Kiba?'_

She shook her head to shake the thoughts, _'No, I shouldn't be ungrateful! Those two are the best thing that has ever happened to me. Even Kurenai-sensei has helped me tremendously in my endeavors. If only Naruto pay attention to me.'_

She paused alongside the river, glancing at the leaves, _'But Sakura pays attention to me more than Naruto. She is everything I want to become as. I can see why Naruto would have a crush on her. She's a nice girl.'_

She clenched her fist, _'I'll stop being the quiet girl! I need to become stronger so Naruto-kun… so Naruto-kun can see more of me.'_

nmnmnmnm

"Akamaru! Go!" yelled Kiba, running ahead of his dog as they began their exercises of leaving marks behind.

"Arf, arf, arf!" responded Akamaru as he left his marks behind.

Once Akamaru's marks were made, the dog turned into Kiba using henge and began spinning to attack each of the marks with his sensitive nose. After the pair hit each and every markings for half an hour, they stopped as Akamaru changed back.

A distinct background noise reached their ears, Kiba frowned at the unnatural sound and looked at Akamaru, barking in confirmation that he was hearing things too. Kiba paused a moment and he heard noises nearby were sounds of crashing and shouts. Alarmed that someone might be in danger; he leaped up into the trees and ran towards the sounds. He stopped suddenly, causing Akamaru crash into him with a yelp.

"Shh," said Kiba, panicking that Akamaru might announce their presence.

He sighed of relief when the two people on the ground didn't pay notice to the yelps. Kiba blinked, realizing just who it was on the forest floor.

'_Naruto? Jiraiya? Oh, this should be good,'_ he thought, smirking, _'At last, I can witness of their much talked about training!'_

"Mass Shadow Clone Technique!" yelled Naruto with the jutsu hand sign, creating what seemed like millions of Naruto clones.

Kiba's eyes grew big as saucers as Akamaru whined in shock.

"I know, I never expect Naruto to produce that many… just what kind of chakra…?" he muttered to himself.

He watched Naruto master a jutsu he never saw before.

'_What's that? It looks like a combination of Rasengan and some kind of black material,' _he wondered and his questions were answered when one Naruto near Kiba shouted the technique.

"Art of Illusionary Shadow Ball!" he threw the ball into the air, changing the sun into moon and the sky grew dark and filled with stars.

'…_And just what would he use this for? I thought he sucked at genjutsu!' _he thought, _'Well damn, I'm nowhere near his level anymore. I don't like that feeling,'_ Kiba frowned, his chest filled with jealousy and constricted his airways. _'I have to get away from here.'_

nmnmnmnm

Shino stood on a tree branch, calling his insects back to him. A bug alerted him of two people nearby. Shino pushed up his glasses up his nose bridge, thanking the bugs as he leaped from tree to tree to see who were here in these parts. It wasn't very common for people to come here to train, Shino knew that. He stopped and spotted Sasuke and Kakashi.

Quirking an eyebrow, he studied the pair and added chakra to his ears to see what they were talking about.

"Do you understand?" asked Kakashi, his right hand on his hips.

"Yeah, I do, let's do this," Sasuke replied, spreading his leg apart and both of his hands began charging up with chakra that seemed to create electricity.

Shino blinked, a sense of awe rising up in himself as the electricity soon spread to other parts of the body. The energy spread from his hands to the elbows, then the shoulders, his torso, but once it got past the neck, aiming for his head, Sasuke fell to the ground, energy dissipated as he panted.

"I can't do it," he muttered, "not yet at least."

"You know, even I can't do it," Kakashi said quietly.

Sasuke's face snapped up, staring with disbelief, Shino sharing the same sentiments.

"But… how do you know about this jutsu, then?" asked Sasuke.

"Because I tried to create the jutsu myself. It was never completed," he replied.

Shino shook his head, taking two steps away from the scene, _'unbelievable, Kakashi has that much trust? It's not very common for ninjas to share a jutsu they never completed in the first place. Especially the ones they tried to create. Damn, this makes me want to hone my own skills even more. What's more, Kakashi trusts him, even after his attempt at deserting the village.'_

He turned and sped away from the pair, _'I wonder if Hinata and Kiba wants to train harsher than ever? Will Kurenai permit that?'_

He closed his eyes, hoping for the best.

nmnmnmnm

Kurenai sat in her living room, watching the clock tick by slowly. She sighed, stretching her back.

'_I need something to do, I wonder if I can call the students in and train them some more,' _she thought.

Before she stood up, Kurenai heard a knock on the door as one of her students entered through the window. Quirking an eyebrow at the sudden activity, she nodded to Kiba in greeting as she stood and walked to the door.

She found Shino standing there and heard a voice in the hallway. She stuck her head out of the door and found Hinata walking to her apartment.

Something was up and she knew it, and she wanted to know what is going on with her students. It was rare that all three students cam to her apartment of their accord, and when that happened, it meant something big was coming.

"Well, that was sudden," Kurenai said, her hands on the hips. "What's up?"

"Kurenai-san, I was wondering if you could train us harder than ever," said Hinata.

"Oh?"

"That's what I came here to discuss about," Shino said.

"Hey, me too!" Kiba exclaimed as Akamaru barked in agreement.

"I see," she muttered, nodding, "and what brought this on?"

"I saw Sakura-chan, and… um… and I got inspired," she replied, a blush rose to her cheeks.

"I saw Naruto training with Jiraiya," Kiba said, "So I can you say it was an inspiration for me too.

"And I saw Sasuke with Kakashi, also training," Shino said.

"Interesting, all the genin teams in this village feel the same way. They wanted to train harder when they saw team seven's progress. Very interesting," she said. "Of course I'll train you harder than ever! I had planned to call you three to come down here and train, so this works out perfectly. Let's do one right now."

"Yes, sensei!" the three said, grinning.


	10. Are they becoming a real threat?

**Are they becoming a real threat?**

**Disclaimer: **This belongs to the series, Naruto. None of these parts are mine and are only written for entertainment purposes.

'_Damn you Kisame,'_ Itachi though as he jumped from a branch to another. _'I'll have to track them alone. We won't be able to complete the mission today, however.'_

A vein in his temple throbbed in annoyance, _'I wish I can take both out now.'_

He stopped when he realized his prey stopped moving. He looked around and realized he was in a familiar territory. Too familiar for his taste and Itachi circumvented the area and found something what the other two saw and stopped in his spot.

A royal battle between three people, two of which he recognized immediately and a shadow smirk appeared briefly on his lips.

'_Let's see how far you have progressed, _my_ little brother,'_ he thought as he watched the sparring match.

He raised both eyebrows when he saw Sasuke using a jutsu that allowed electricity flow through most of his body. The jutsu singed the girl and Naruto with burn marks. They didn't show pain and instead, redoubled their efforts to get back at him for the painful jutsu. Itachi chuckled quietly, observing the fight that had a mixture of a game and a practice.

'_He might actually stand a chance up against me if I don't watch it,' _he thought and looked to where his prey is. Nodding to himself, he felt satisfied, and his stomach growled. He sighed as he decided to retreat for the moment. Food was a bigger priority than watching some boring, low-level sparring matches.

'_I'll be back in an hour,'_ he thought, vanishing from the area.

nmnmnmnm

Orochimaru noticed a commotion up ahead and began slowing down, his assistant followed suit. Without a word, the pair approached the scene and found a three-way sparring match. Or otherwise known as battle royal. Orochimaru smirked, crouching behind a tree as he surveyed the situation.

'_Mm, that Naruto seems to have gotten better,' _he thought, taking note of his arsenal of jutsu and matured fighting style.

He observed Sasuke and realized that in comparison, Naruto would have received 'Most Improved' award of the year. Curious to know what skills he used to speed up his training, he spoke to Kabuto.

"I'll have to say, that Naruto has gotten better. I wonder how he is doing it," he muttered mostly to himself, gritting his teeth.

"Due to the fight in the Valley of the End, I think it's fair that we are to assume to have no knowledge of him other than what we have known already," Kabuto said. "Maybe if we… get Naruto, along with Sasuke?"

"That's a brilliant plan, Kabuto," said Orochimaru and chuckled, "Only flaw in that is we don't have the means or power to contain both of them in our holdings."

"Then we enlist other villages' help," he suggested.

"Out of question," he said, "They've been proving unreliable."

"You have a point, Orochimaru-sama," Kabuto agreed, looking back at the battle.

nmnmnmnm

Kabuto followed Orochimaru toward Konoha and his master stopped suddenly, signaling to him with a wave to slow down. Without a word, Kabuto scanned the area and saw what Orochimaru had spotted. The team seven was battling it out with their teammates, improving their skills.

He studied the pink-haired girl, her punches sending Sasuke flying backwards, acting as though he was merely a fly.

'_What power,'_ he thought, _'she has an amazing control over her chakra at this age.'_

Orochimaru interrupted his thoughts with his comments and Kabuto's suggestions of capturing Naruto along with Sasuke. Once the conversation settled, he continued watching the girl and noticed something that Orochimaru has not. She was having the upper hand over the other two.

'_Why doesn't he notice this? She obviously is going to win,'_ he thought, glancing at him with a frown and looked back at the battle.

Sakura kicked Naruto in the gut, grabbing his shoulders to prevent him from flying into the tree. She kneed him in the gut with her other leg; Sasuke attacked Sakura with throwing three kunai at her shoulder. She ducked, using Naruto as a shield as the weapons impaled into his back. She rolled backward into a ball, sending Naruto flying, using the momentum with her leg. Naruto crashed into the branch and groaned upon impact.

'_Damn, she's ruthless. How does he not see her abilities?'_ he wondered and opened his mouth to comment but Orochimaru beat him to it.

"That girl, she's exceptional, reminds me of Tsunade," he paused, watching the fight and a smirk fell on his lips, "Very interesting…" he muttered.


End file.
